Kimberley Vaughan's Race to the Stones Ultra
Kimberley Vaughan raised £1,000 for Saint Francis Hospice when she took part in an ultra-challenge in memory of her nana Joan Gilbert. Here is her story.
I love running and entering events to give me a focus every year. I also love raising money for charities close to my heart.
In early 2023 my nana, Joan Gilbert, was diagnosed with brain tumours. Unfortunately, she went downhill quite fast, and we sadly lost her in June 2023. In her last week, we had the help of Saint Francis Hospice’s home care team. My grandad was bedbound at the time and not long after coming out of hospital himself, so it was vital for my nana to stay at home and for them to be together until the end.
This was made possible by the wonderful carers at Saint Francis Hospice.
My family and I could never thank them enough, so I wanted to raise money to say my personal thank you and allow the hospice to carry on providing vital care to other families.
Completing the Race to the Stones Ultra in Oxfordshire was without doubt the hardest thing I have ever done. My body and mind were pushed to the limits.
We completed 50 km on day one in about 10 hours. It was extremely hot and by the end our feet had a few blisters.
We then unpacked, set up our tents and managed to have some dinner. We also tried to do some yoga - our bodies felt stiff, and we were falling all over the place!
We bedded down about 10pm but with the adrenaline still going from that day it was hard to sleep.
On Sunday we were up at 4.30am, packed up, saw the medics to strap up our blisters and we were back out for the final 50km by 6.30am. The second day was tough. Our bodies were tired from the day before and with the sun shining it became very hot. Our mantra was to tick off each km as they came.
It took us about 12 hours. We had a lot more stops, just to sit and let our feet relax for a little bit. By this point they were very sore and tired.
I was an emotional mess crossing the finish line. Our partners, our dogs and my friends’ children were all there to greet us.
I had my nana with me the whole weekend, she came for the adventure too.
